A little confussed about heat loss

[mlinnane]

9 windows 2 foot wide 4 foot high
7 regular metal doors
1 regular garage door
R21 in walls
R44 in ceiling
sq footage for boiler to heat 5540 sq feet.
Please remember not that it make a difference but this building is being heated by radiant heat.

They told me this was all the bolier I would need and I cna not find BTU any place on web page
PRESTIGE SOLO 110 PROPANE FIRED
http://www.triangletube.com/ they told me 110 would do

 

[dtd24]

That wouls most likely be a 110,000 btu unit. I am from Rotterdam, NY. Who quoted you this boiler?

 

[SPIKER]

If you look for a few of the HEATING supply web sites most of them have some sort of heat loss calculator, carrier york ect, it might be best to try some of the radiant heat web sites, mother earth news had one a long while back but I'm not sure if it is there any more.

you will need not only the windows sizes but energy star ratings & I think also the celing height may be asked on a few of them.

If you are talking OUTSIDE wood boilers then the ratings they use are almost fabricated up and are used more as a compairison to the gas/propane BTUs mostly due to the varried burn conditions of different woods moisture content ect.

In my only slightly profesional thoughts the 110btu seems LOW but I'm not all fully aware of what type of radiant heat you are using. also don't forget about summer AC it is easier to make sure that is available right from the get go than to add it on later.

mark M

 

[kmdigital]

You also need the desired indoor temp and design outdoor temp. 110 MBH is probably about right for a shop that will be heated to about 55-60 with an OAT of about 0. With radiant floor you never need to heat it above 65, even in a residential setting such as your living room in your bare feet. This is because the floor will be about 85+ degrees, so your body feels warm even though the air temp is only 65

 

[mlinnane]

Col pumping and heating in albany ny sized the boiler. But maybe I should review everything with them again. They have been in business a long time and them seem great. But I thought this was low myself

 

[daTeacha]

A lot of guys don't want their shop anywhere near as warm as a house since you are usually working fairly actively in a shop. Also, maybe all they think is that you just don't want it to freeze in there.

 

[kmdigital]

One thing you DO NOT want to do is oversize the system. This is the quickest way to lose efficiency there is! Since most boilers, furnaces, AC's etc, are not modulating and are either ON or OFF, the most efficient operation when on is steady state operation. You lose the most during the the ON/OFF cycles, and the more you can reduce the frequency of these cycles, the more efficient the system will be. Ideally, the system is perfectly sized when it runs 24 hours a day on the coldest day of the year and is just able to reach the desired temperature. And even if it gets a a little chilly on the rare -20 degree day with 40 mph winds, the energy you save the other 99.99999% of the time is well worth being a little undersized vs being oversized.

I heat my 2400 sq ft house with a 40,000 btu boiler, and I only use about 450 gallon of propane a year to do it. I used to only use about $380 worth of gas each year to heat my house, dry the clothes, heat all the water and cook the food. But with today's propane prices that has gone up to about $800 per year.